Coventry City Wall (The Gatehouse Record)

Description

Coventry did not become a walled city until the second half of the C14, but there was a town ditch and entrance bars in the C13, and possibly even in the late C12. The only physical evidence for an early ditch is one 20' wide and 9' deep to the NE of Well Street Gate, and sections have been found on the South side of Smithford Street aligned with the Spon Street bars, and continuing North and East to Barr's Hill and St Nicholas' Church. The North and East sides of the town may well have not been ditched. A licence for murage was obtained in 1329, but work does not seem to have begun for some time. A licence to crenellate was obtained in 1363, and in 1385, a licence was granted to complete the work. The wall was constructed using material in situ; therefore a ditch surrounded the whole circuit. Twelve gates were erected at strategic points, these being built from c.1367 onwards, most being completed by 1411. In addition, there were at least 20 intermediary towers, of which 15 lay on the South side of the town between Hill Gate and Gosford Gate. The sections to the NE of the Priory appear to have been the last section built, in the C15. During the C17th Civil War, the three miles of city walling were comparable in strength to London's City Walls, with four strong gates guarded by 400 guards. In 1662, Charles II ordered that the walls should be pulled down because Coventry had harboured rebels after the restoration. However, this was revoked in 1672, and efforts were made to preserve the circuit. Attempts were made to convert both gates and towers to domestic habitation in the late C17 and early C18, but from the middle of the C18 onwards, the gates and walls were gradually removed. In 1870, only two gates remained, the Swanswell (Priory) Gate, and Cook Street Gate. Between these gates lies the only substantial surviving section of the city wall, although not to its original height. It is constructed of two outer skins of ashlar masonry with a rubble core. (PastScape–ref. VCH)

A Royal licence to crenellate was granted in 1363 Nov 20 (Click on the date for details of this licence.).
It has been incorrectly suggested that a Royal licence to crenellate was granted in 1364 Nov 3.

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument Number 1002979, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number wm20
National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1076640 , 1076649
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 869475.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) MCT2599 and numerous others.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Rob Orland, Historic Coventy
  Charles Taylor's ecastles
  Wikipedia entry
Books
- Salter, Mike, 2013, Medieval Walled Towns (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 57-9
  Purton, P.F., 2009, A History of the Late Medieval Siege: 1200-1500 (Woodbridge: The Boydell Press) p. 297-8
  Creighton, O.H. and Higham, R.A., 2005, Medieval Town Walls (Stroud: Tempus) passim
  Soden, Iain, 2005, Coventry: The Hidden History p. 228
  Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p. 256
  Salter, Mike, 1992, Castles and Moated Mansions of Warwickshire (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 27
  Bateman, J. and Redknap, M., 1986, Coventry: excavations on the town wall 1976–1978 (Coventry: Coventry City Council)
  Bond, C.J., 1987, 'Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Defences' in Schofield, J. and Leech, R. (eds) Urban Archaeology in Britain (CBA Research Report 61) p. 92-116 online copy
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 487
  Lancaster, J.C., 1975, 'Coventry' in Lobel, M.D. (ed) The Atlas of Historic Towns Vol. 2 (London: Scolar Press/Historic Towns Trust) online copy
  Barley, M.W., 1975, 'Town Defences in England and Wales after 1066' in Barley (ed) The plans and topography of medieval towns in England and Wales (CBA Research Report 14) p. 57-71 plan p. 62 download/view online
  Turner, H.L., 1971, Town Defences in England and Wales (London) p. 118-19
  Joan C. Lancaster and Margaret Tomlinson, 1969, in Stephens, W.B.(ed), VCH Warwickshire Vol. 8 p. 1-23, 208-21
  Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (London: Methuen and Co) p. 222-3
  Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol. 3 Part 2 p. 240, 416 [online copy > http://archive.org/stream/someaccountofdom02parkiala#page/240/mode/1up>online transcription
Periodical Articles
- Creighton, Oliver, 2006, ''Castles of Communities': Medieval Town Defences in England; Wales and Gascony' Château Gaillard Vol. 22 p. 75-86
  Mason, P. and McAree, D., 2005, 'Coventry, Bond Street' West Midlands Archaeology Vol. 48 p. 122-24
  Bradley, J and Gaimster, M. (eds), 2004, 'Medieval Britain and Ireland in 2003' Medieval Archaeology Vol. 48 p. 294 download copy
  Youngs, S.M. et al, 1988 'Medieval Britain and Ireland in 1987' Medieval Archaeology Vol. 32 p. 285 download copy
  Youngs, S.M., Clark, J. and Barry, T., 1987, 'Medieval Britain and Ireland in 1986' Medieval Archaeology Vol. 31 p. 166 download copy
  Youngs, S.M. and Clark, J., 1982, 'Medieval Britain in 1981' Medieval Archaeology Vol. 26 p. 212 download copy
  Youngs, S.M. and Clark, J., 1981, 'Medieval Britain in 1980' Medieval Archaeology Vol. 25 p. 214 download copy
  Kenyon, J.R., 1981 'Early Artillery Fortifications in England and Wales: a Preliminary Survey and Re-appraisal' The Archaeological Journal Vol. 138 p. 214
  Stokes, M.A., 1981, 'Excavation of medieval defensive ditch at New Law Courts, Earl Street' West Midlands Archaeology Vol. 24 p. 61 63-4
  Stokes, M.A., 1980, 'Excavation of medieval defensive ditch at New Law Courts, Earl Street' West Midlands Archaeology Vol. 23 p. 83-4
  Rylatt, M., 1980, 'Salvage recording of medieval defensive ditch at Kirby House' West Midlands Archaeology Vol. 23 p. 83
  Bateman, J., 1978, 'Late medieval town defences, Coventry' West Midlands Archaeological news sheet Vol. 21 p. 90-2
  (Rylatt), 1975, Medieval Archaeology Vol. 19 p. 241 download copy
  (Hobley), 1973, Medieval Archaeology Vol. 17 p. 171 download copy
  (Radcliffe), 1972, Medieval Archaeology Vol. 16 p. 183 download copy
  Gooder, E., Woodfield, C. and Chaplin, R., 1966, 'The walls of Coventry' Transactions of the Birmingham Archaeological Society Vol. 81 p. 88-138
  1966, Medieval Archaeology Vol. 10 p. 200 download copy
  1961, Medieval Archaeology Vol. 5 p. 324-5 download copy
  Fretton, 1881, North Staffordshire Naturalist's Field Club p. 31-6
Guidebooks
- Goodyer, E., 1967, Coventry's Town Wall (Coventry: Coventry and North Warwickshire History Pamphlets 4)
Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
- Maxwell Lyte, H.C. (ed), 1891, Calendar of Patent Rolls Edward III (1327-30) Vol. 1 p. 343-4 (murage grant) online copy
  Maxwell Lyte, H.C. (ed), 1912, Calendar of Patent Rolls Edward III (1361-64) Vol. 12 p. 417 (licence to crenellate) online copy
  Maxwell Lyte, H.C. (ed), 1912, Calendar of Patent Rolls Edward III (1364-67) Vol. 13 p. 22 (commission to apportion subsidy for work) online copy
  Maxwell Lyte, H.C. (ed), 1912, Calendar of Patent Rolls Edward III (1364-67) Vol. 13 p. 260 (Mandate to levy and collect murage) online copy
  Maxwell Lyte, H.C. (ed), 1913, Calendar of Patent Rolls Edward III (1367-70) Vol. 14 p. 369 (revoking of mandate to collect murage) online copy
  Maxwell Lyte, H.C. (ed), 1897, Calendar of Patent Rolls Richard II (1381-85) Vol. 2 p. 557 (permission to levy money and grant of money and stone for walls) online copy
  Harris, M.D. (ed), 1907-13, The Coventry Leet Book . . . 1420-1555 (Early English Text Society) (numerous accounts regarding funding wall)
  - Also see the Gatehouse murage pages for full details of murage grants, petitions and other such.
Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
- Dugdale, Wm., 1656, The Antiquities of Warwickshire (Thomas Warren) paln between p. 86-87, p. 91-92 online copy
  Speed, J., 1610, Map of Coventry
  Camden, Wm, 1607, Britannia hypertext critical edition by Dana F. Sutton (2004)
  Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p. 473-4
  Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1908, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (London: Bell and Sons) Vol. 2 p. 106-7 online copy
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Historic England, 2016, Heritage at Risk West Midlands Register 2016 (London: Historic England) p. 57, 58 online copy
  Historic England, 2015, Heritage at Risk West Midlands Register 2015 (London: Historic England) p. 58 online copy
  English Heritage, 2014, Heritage at Risk Register 2014 West Midlands (London: English Heritage) p. 57, 58 online copy
  English Heritage, 2013, Heritage at Risk Register 2013 West Midlands (London: English Heritage) p. 57, 58 online copy
  English Heritage, 2012, Heritage at Risk Register 2012 West Midlands (London: English Heritage) p. 68 online copy
  English Heritage, 2011, Heritage at Risk Register 2011 West Midlands (London: English Heritage) p. 67 online copy

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The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

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